Strategic Plan FY20-FY22

Front of Library building with pink flowers

The strategic plan for the Library sets a clear vision for where the department is going, helps to direct its resources (human, financial, and infrastructural), and empowers Library staff to take on new challenges and prioritize opportunities that best serve the Brandeis University Framework.

Our focus is on enhancing the student experience in their academic and community experiences on and off campus; supporting research, scholarly, and creative work; offering tools to enhance impact; and honoring our founding values. We approach each element horizontally to recognize the Libary's ability to transcend academic specialization and department boundaries as well as provide space that enables dynamic collaboration across traditional disciplines. We also vertically bring together our students, faculty, and staff, creating a multilevel learning environment.

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Strategy Statement

The Brandeis Library will enhance our position as an intellectual and creative hub that empowers our community by creating equitable opportunities for furthering knowledge, inspiration, and growth.

Priorities

Strategic Priorities are broad areas of focus, which help sort the work the Library is and will be doing to enact its Strategy Statement. Priorities are grouped into three designations, which denote what type of role the Priority holds within the plan.

The Foundational Priority (Core Services) details the work the Library will continue to prioritize and focus on over the next three years.
The three Improvement Priorities highlight areas with room for purposeful growth and enhancement.
The Game Changing Priority (Digital Scholarship & Creative Work) is the one that, as the plan is enacted, will require a change or refocusing of work and resources throughout the Library.

Core Services

The Library is committed to maintaining and enhancing the ongoing literacy coaching and informational resources essential to the teaching, learning, and research of the Brandeis community, and offers a place for engagement, outreach, and inclusion.

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Goals

A. Enable academic success and foster scholarship and creation by delivering expertise, assistance, tools, and services that support research, academic growth, creative work, and skill building
B. Consider and enhance the centrality of the Library in meeting the increasingly diverse ways in which information is disseminated and used in teaching, learning, and inquiry
C. Cultivate, manage, and highlight collections, and enable discovery and usage of scholarly resources
D. Ensure the strategic and responsible allocation of Library resources and strategic partnerships to support research and scholarship

Teaching and Learning

The Library supports and advances teaching and learning to foster lifelong intellectual and creative engagement, as well as to benefit our students as they prepare for careers and make a positive difference in the world. In doing so, the Library operates as a “third space” where faculty, staff, and students can connect and learn from each other in a multifunctional space.

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Goals

A. Foster a culture of undergraduate research on campus in keeping with the Brandeis model of personalized undergraduate education and participation in world-class experiences
B. Expand and strengthen support for graduate student research across schools and departments
C. Develop our instructional offerings in response to assessment, feedback from the community, and our own reflective practice
D. Seek out collaborative opportunities to embed our staff into learning experiences throughout campus, including the lifecycle of open data, to help instill aspirations toward lifelong learning
E. Develop professional skills and experience among student staff to help expand our reach into the broader community
F. Join with faculty as a key partner in the implementation of the Brandeis Core
G. Foster literacies around emerging technologies, media, and the open data lifecycle

Access and Equity

One of the founding principles of Brandeis is a strong commitment to social justice. The Library provides equitable access to Library collections, services, and staff expertise. The Library invests in physical and virtual spaces that are accessible, multifunctional, and inclusive. In the Brandeis spirit, diversity and equity are foundational in our thinking as we create learning and research environments that support the various needs of the entire Brandeis community.

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Goals

A. Work within available resources to design, implement, and assess physical and virtual spaces and services that facilitate and maximize accessibility and academic success, while promoting and supporting collaborative work and wellness
B. Build an equitable and inclusive working culture for Library and student staff through hiring, mentoring, retention programs, and training
C. Actively partner with faculty, staff, and students to develop and support equity-focused research, teaching, learning, and staff development to create stronger connections and contributions for campus-wide initiatives on equity and social justice
D. Further develop and highlight the Library’s collections to represent the diverse Brandeis community and its needs, utilizing Open Access and Affordable/Open Educational Resources when available

Process Improvement

Process improvements are purposeful changes to the way the Library conducts work, which boost effectiveness and create sustainable success. Improvements to process will allow the staff—the vital engine of the Library’s efforts to empower our community—to direct time and resources towards more innovative services.

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Goals

A. Enhance internal and external communication to maximize interaction with the community
B. Continue to invest in the development and support of Library personnel
C. Promote efficiency and collaboration across Library departments, services, and spaces
D. Develop and improve data collection and assessment practices and infrastructure within the Library to support decision making

Digital Scholarship and Creative Work

Scholarship is no longer restricted to the publication of articles and monographs, but instead includes a wide range of digital methodologies and creative work achieved by the Brandeis community. New modes of creation and emerging technologies are sparking innovation and rapidly shifting the landscape of scholarly discourse. The Library endeavors to engage with the community to foster the development and dissemination of new forms of scholarship.

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Goals

A. Leverage and develop staff expertise to support and collaborate with community members in new and emerging areas of Digital Scholarship & Creative Work
B. Inspire and coach community members as they navigate different stages of the research life cycle and explore both known and emerging formats for scholarship and creative work
C. Provide access to and enhance spaces, technology, and infrastructure to meet the evolving needs of the Brandeis community
D. Empower users with a deep understanding of equitable information access, as well as their rights and responsibilities as creators/authors/artists/publishers
E. Highlight and curate the Digital Scholarship & Creative Work produced by members of the Brandeis community to promote the impact and reach of creative digital scholarship